Murray County is a county located in the southern part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,904. The county seat is Sulphur. The county was named for William H. Murray, a member and president of the Oklahoma Constitutional Convention and later a Governor of Oklahoma.
McClain County is a county located in south central Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 41,662. Its county seat is Purcell. The county was named for Charles M. McClain, an Oklahoma constitutional convention attendee.
Garvin County is a county in south-central Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,656. Its county seat is Pauls Valley. In 1906, delegates to Constitution Convention formed Garvin County from part of the Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory. The county was named for Samuel J. Garvin, a local Chickasaw rancher, merchant and banker. Its economy is largely based on farming, ranching and oil production.
Healdton is a city in Carter County, Oklahoma, United States. Its population was 2,788 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Ardmore micropolitan statistical area.
Pauls Valley is a city in and the county seat of Garvin County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 5,992 at the 2020 census, a decline of 3.2 percent from the figure of 6,187 in 2010. It was settled by and named for Smith Paul, a North Carolina native who married a Chickasaw woman and became a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation before the Civil War. The town economy is largely based on agriculture and oil production.
Tishomingo is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Johnston County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 3,101 as of the 2020 Census, an increase of 2.2% over the population of 3,034 reported at the 2010 census. It was the first capital of the Chickasaw Nation, from 1856 until Oklahoma statehood in 1907. The city is home to Murray State College, a community college with an annual enrollment of 3,015 students. Tishomingo is part of the Texoma region.
Sulphur is a city in and county seat of Murray County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 5,065 at the 2020 census, a 2.8 percent gain over the figure of 4,929 in 2010. The area around Sulphur has been noted for its mineral springs, since well before the city was founded late in the 19th century. The city received its name from the presence of sulfur in the water.
Davis is a city in Garvin and Murray counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population is 2,823 as of the 2020 census.
The Arbuckle Mountains are an ancient mountain range in south-central Oklahoma in the United States. They lie in Murray, Carter, Pontotoc, and Johnston counties. The granite rocks of the Arbuckles date back to the Precambrian Eon some 1.4 billion years ago which were overlain by rhyolites during the Cambrian Period. The range reaches a height of 1,412 feet above sea level. According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS):
The Arbuckles contain the most diverse suite of mineral resources in Oklahoma: limestone, dolomite, glass sand, granite, sand and gravel, shale, cement, iron ore, lead, zinc, tar sands, and oil and gas; all these minerals are, or have been, produced commercially.
The Lake of the Arbuckles is a reservoir located in southern Oklahoma, 8 miles (13 km) southwest of Sulphur in Murray County. The lake covers 2,350 acres (950 ha) and is a principal water supply reservoir for the city of Ardmore, some 30 mi (48 km) to the southwest. It also supplies water to the cities of Sulphur, Davis, Wynnewood and a large oil refinery near Wynnewood. The lake also provides flood control, fish and wildlife habitat and recreation opportunities.
Chickasaw National Recreation Area is a national recreation area in the foothills of the Arbuckle Mountains in south-central Oklahoma near Sulphur in Murray County. It includes the former Platt National Park and Arbuckle Recreation Area.
The Chickasaw Nation is a federally recognized Indigenous nation with headquarters in Ada, Oklahoma, in the United States. The Chickasaw Nation descends from an Indigenous population historically located in the southeastern United States, including present-day northern Mississippi, northwestern Alabama, southwestern Kentucky, and western Tennessee. Today, the Chickasaw Nation is the 12th largest Indigenous nation in the United States, with a population exceeding 80,000 citizens, most of whom reside in Oklahoma.
Riverwind Casino is a casino located in Norman, Oklahoma that opened in 2006. The 219,000 square feet (20,300 m2) casino, owned and operated by the Chickasaw Nation, is one of the largest in the state. In addition to the casino floor, the facility also has two restaurants, a lounge, a food court, several bars, valet parking and a 1500-seat theatre that hosts concerts. Riverwind also opened a 100-room adjoining hotel in February 2009. The casino is located in at the Interstate 35/State Highway 9 west junction.
South Central Oklahoma is an amorphous region in the state of Oklahoma, perhaps encompassing 10 counties. It is centered on the Arbuckle Mountains, an ancient, eroded range traversing some 70 miles (110 km) across the region, and surrounded by rivers and lakes, notably Lake Texoma, Lake Murray and Lake of the Arbuckles. For tourism purposes, the Oklahoma Department of Tourism has more narrowly defined South Central Oklahoma, which they refer to as Chickasaw Country, as being a seven-county region including Pontotoc, Johnston, Marshall, Garvin, Murray, Carter, and Love counties. A ten-county definition might also include Coal, Atoka, and Bryan counties, although the Department of Tourism includes those in Choctaw Country. The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma covers the eastern third of the region. Its headquarters is in Durant, and its capitol building, now a museum, is in Tuskahoma. The Chickasaw Nation lies within the region, with the tribal capitol building located at Tishomingo and its headquarters in Ada. The Chickasaw Nation, which runs "Chickasawcountry.com"., promotes the idea of Chickasaw Country as the 13 south-central Oklahoma counties that comprise the Chickasaw Nation, being the Tourism Department’s seven counties plus Coal, Bryan, Jefferson, Stephens, Grady, and McClain counties.
Fort Arbuckle was constructed by the US Army in 1850 to counter raids by Plains Indian tribes on immigrant trains heading west to California and on the settlements of Choctaw and Chickasaw nations in Indian Territory.
WinStar World Casino and Resort is an American tribal casino and hotel located in Thackerville, Oklahoma, near the Oklahoma–Texas state line. It is owned and operated by the Chickasaw Nation. The casino opened as the WinStar Casinos in 2004, and was expanded and renamed WinStar World Casino in 2009; its 370,000 square feet (34,000 m2) of casino floor made it the world's largest casino. In August 2013, WinStar Resorts completed a major expansion project, which added a new 1000-room second hotel tower that was divided into two phases; this also added a new casino that is attached to the tower. As a result of the completion of this expansion, the casino overtook Foxwoods Resort Casino to become the largest casino in the United States and one of the largest in the world based on gaming floor space. WinStar has over 8,600 electronic games, a 55-table poker room, 100 total table games including craps and roulette, Racer's off-track betting, and multiple high limit rooms.
Chisholm Trail Casino is a casino that opened in Duncan, Oklahoma in October, 2004. The 22,000-square-foot (2,000 m2) casino is owned and operated by the Chickasaw Nation and is open 24 hours daily. Located along the site of the historic Chisholm Trail cattle drive, the casino is five miles north of downtown Duncan on Highway 81, south of Highway 7. Chisholm Trail is owned and operated by the Chickasaw Nation. The casino is 70 miles south of Norman, Oklahoma and the Nation’s sister gaming facility, Riverwind Casino. Chisholm Trail is 100 miles northwest of WinStar World Casino, another Chickasaw Nation gaming center, located in Thackerville, Oklahoma.
Gold Mountain Casino is a Native American casino in Ardmore, Oklahoma, owned and operated by the Chickasaw Nation. Originally opened in 2002 as Ardmore Gaming, the facility has grown steadily and today features more than 300 gaming machines. The casino is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The 8,620 sq ft (801 m2) casino is located on the corner of P Street N.E. and Sam Noble Parkway, and can be accessed via Interstate 35, exit 33. It is located near the Ardmore Convention Center and the Hardy Murphy Coliseum. Gold Mountain is about 34 miles north of WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma, and 77 miles south of Riverwind Casino in Norman, Oklahoma, which are also Chickasaw-owned gaming facilities.
Pickens County was a political subdivision of the Chickasaw Nation in the Indian Territory from 1855, prior to Oklahoma being admitted as a state in 1907. The county was one of four that comprised the Chickasaw Nation. Following statehood, its territory was divided among several Oklahoma counties that have continued to the present.
Border Casino is a Native American gaming establishment operated and owned by the Chickasaw Nation in the state of Oklahoma. The casino is adjacent to Interstate 35 in Oklahoma, geographically 5 miles (8.0 km) south of Thackerville within the administrative division of Love County.
